Inline Cooler vs Standalone
06-30-2008, 07:09 PM
#1
Inline Cooler vs Standalone First, a little background on the car:
~3100# daily driver
-Stock Internal, near full bolt-on
-TCI 4000 stall, custom shift kit, TCI Deep Pan
-B&M 24,000 "thick" cooler mounted "Dope" style.
I've had this cooler on the car for over 3 years now. Since I got it, I've had it run through the factory (radiator) cooler first, then the 24k. It's done a good job cooling, but I couldn't help but think that in the summer it would run cooler if it wasn't heated by the coolant in the radiator before it hit the 24k.
So I got bored today at work, and swapped the pressure hose from the radiator to the transmission line, completely bypassing the factory cooler.
What I found kind of surprised me when I took a test drive to make sure everything was working fine and not leaking.
Normally after driving for 10 minutes of stop-and-go traffic, the temp in the summer would shoot up to 150* or so and hold there.
It didn't do that this time, and peaked at 125* after a 10 minute drive. Also, it didn't heat up anywhere NEAR as fast.
On the ride home, I kept an eye on it again. Trans temperature never got above 140*, and would cool down very quickly, unlike before, where it would hold 150* until I hit the interstate or something.
TL;DR.
Before (4L60E --> factory cooler --> 24k cooler --> 4L60E )
Summer temp: 150*-160*
Winter temp: 120*-130*
After (4L60E --> 24k cooler --> 4L60E )
Summer temp: 130*-140*
Winter temp: ???
I'm gonna keep track of this over the next few days and see how everything does. If temps stay consistently lower, I'll keep this setup.
Just thought you guys might find this interesting/useful.
~3100# daily driver
-Stock Internal, near full bolt-on
-TCI 4000 stall, custom shift kit, TCI Deep Pan
-B&M 24,000 "thick" cooler mounted "Dope" style.
I've had this cooler on the car for over 3 years now. Since I got it, I've had it run through the factory (radiator) cooler first, then the 24k. It's done a good job cooling, but I couldn't help but think that in the summer it would run cooler if it wasn't heated by the coolant in the radiator before it hit the 24k.
So I got bored today at work, and swapped the pressure hose from the radiator to the transmission line, completely bypassing the factory cooler.
What I found kind of surprised me when I took a test drive to make sure everything was working fine and not leaking.
Normally after driving for 10 minutes of stop-and-go traffic, the temp in the summer would shoot up to 150* or so and hold there.
It didn't do that this time, and peaked at 125* after a 10 minute drive. Also, it didn't heat up anywhere NEAR as fast.
On the ride home, I kept an eye on it again. Trans temperature never got above 140*, and would cool down very quickly, unlike before, where it would hold 150* until I hit the interstate or something.
TL;DR.
Before (4L60E --> factory cooler --> 24k cooler --> 4L60E )
Summer temp: 150*-160*
Winter temp: 120*-130*
After (4L60E --> 24k cooler --> 4L60E )
Summer temp: 130*-140*
Winter temp: ???
I'm gonna keep track of this over the next few days and see how everything does. If temps stay consistently lower, I'll keep this setup.
Just thought you guys might find this interesting/useful.
06-30-2008, 10:08 PM
#2
Thanks for posting. You've got one cool running trani. I'll be running the same cooler on my M6>A4 swap. Good to know it works standing alone.
You know, in cold climates, there's a chance it may run cooler than we want it to, if that's even possible. FWIW, I used to put a cover on my Harley's oil cooler for the Winter, I suppose the same could be done for car trani cooler...
Good luck with it.
You know, in cold climates, there's a chance it may run cooler than we want it to, if that's even possible. FWIW, I used to put a cover on my Harley's oil cooler for the Winter, I suppose the same could be done for car trani cooler...
Good luck with it.
06-30-2008, 11:09 PM
#3
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I bypassed my stock cooler and only ran the external. It was too cold outside for it and the trans only reached the 60-65* mark and never went into lockup but.. I live in Chicago suburbs and and the outside temp was in the 20 Deg range or colder. You should be fine in Alabama with the stock cooler bypassed.
